Indicating device for bins.



PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905.

rs. HTT

FIG .2.

P SWANSON INDIGATING DEVICE FOR BINS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26,1905

WITNESSES Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

PETER SWANSON, OF SOUDAN, MINNESOTA.

' INDICATINGrbE'VICE FOR BINS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed June 26, 1905. Serial No. 266,941.

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER SwANsoN, of Soudan, St. Louis county, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicating Devices for Bins, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide means to enable a person at a distance from a bin to determine at a glance whether the bin is full or empty.

The invention consists generallyin an indicator or sign and means arranged to be actuated by the pressure of the material in the bin for operating said indicator.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a sectional view of the lower portion of a bin with my invention applied thereto, the bin being empty. Fig. 2 is a similar view, showingthe bin containing a quantity of grain. Fig. 3

illustrates a portion of an empty bin with thehousing for the plate on the interior of the bin omitted. Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the plate arranged within the bin and engaged bythe material therein. Fig. 5 is a front View of the indicating device, showing the position it assumes when the bin is full. Fig. 6 illustrates the indicating device reversed.

In the drawings, 2 represents a suitable bin adapted to contain coal, ore, or grain.

3 is an angle-plate pivoted at 4 on a bracket 5 and having the word Loaded on one flange and the word Empty on the other flange. A rod 6 is pivoted to one edge of said plate and projects through a hole 7 in the Wall of the bin and is pivotally connected to a plate 8, which is hinged at 9 and adapted to swing back and forth toward and from the wall of the bin. A housing or casing 10 incloses the plate and has an opening 11 in its lower wall to allow the passage of grain or other material that may accumulate therein.

The device shown in Figs. 1, 2, and L is adapted particularly for use in grain-bins. In a pocket designed particularly for coarse coal the housing may be omitted, the plate 8 being pivoted at 12 on the Wall of the bin and depending therein and attached at its lower end to the rod 6, which is slidable in the Wall of the bin, and is attached at its outer end to the indicating device, as shown in Fig. 3. When the device is used in a pocket containing fine or pea coal, then the housing may be used to prevent the coal from working in between the wall of the bin and the plate. In

other respects the device is the same, and its operation is substantially as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. The plate 3, as shown in Fig. 1, is pivoted on one side of its center, so that normally it will hang by force of gravity in the position illustrated in Fig. 1, with the plate 8 swung in toward the middle of the bin. When there is grain inthe bin, however, the plate will be pressed in toward the bin-Wall, as shown in Fig. 2, and the indicator will be swung on its pivot until the flange bearing the word Loaded is exposed to view and the one bearing the word Empty is swung to an invisible position. As soon as the grain or coal has been drawn out of the bin the indicator will return to its normal po sition and the person approaching the dock can readily determine at a considerable distance whether a bin is empty or not. The device has been found to be very useful where the bins or pockets are located on the docks and it is desirable for the master of a vessel to determine whether a bin is full or empty before the vessel has reached the dock.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a bin, of a revolving indicator carried by said bin and bearing the words Loaded and Empty and adapted to expose them alternately when said indicator is revolved, a plate pivotally supported within the bin and arranged to be operated by the pressure of the material therein, and means connecting said plate and indicator.

2. The combination, with a bin and a housing provided thereon, of a plate hinged on said housing and arranged to be actuated by the pressure of the material in the bin, a revolving indicator supported outside said bin, and means connecting said indicator'and said plate through said bin.

3. The combination, with a bin, of an indicator consisting of an angle-plate pivotally supported outside said bin and bearing the words Loaded and Empty arranged to be exposed alternately, said angle-plate being eccentrically pivoted and normally exposing the word Empty, a plate hinged within said bin and operated by the pressure of the grain, and means connecting said hinged plate and said angle-plate.

4. The combination, with a bin, of an eccentrically-pivoted indicating device bearing the words Loaded and Empty and adapted to expose them alternately, means pivoted within the bin and arranged to be actuated by the pressure of the material therein, and a rod pivotall y connecting said indicating device and said pivoted means through the bin-wall, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a bin, of an indicating device bearing the words Loaded and Empty and adapted to expose said words alternately when the indicator is operated, means arranged within said bin and adapted to be operated by the pressure of the material therein, and a suitable connection between said means and said indicator, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a bin, of an indicator bearing the words Loaded and Empty and adapted to expose them alter- PETER SWANSON,

Witnesses:

O. WAKERSOR, J. C. TOWNE. 

